Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to a system for cleaning the surface of an object, and more particularly, to a system that removes both organic and inorganic contaminants from the surface of the object.
In manufacturing, for various reasons, many components require cleaning prior to assembly. For example, liquid crystal display (LCD) panels available in televisions, monitors, tablets, phones, and the like require optical polarizing films. These films must be thoroughly cleaned so that contaminants do not degrade or compromise the image quality of the overall LCD panel.
The films are often provided on rolls as continuous webs. Systems exist which are capable of cleaning one or both surfaces of the web by removing inorganic and other contaminants down to the micron level. However, such systems are incapable of removing contaminants down to a nanometer scale, such as oligomers, which are not particles per se, but organic chemical conglomerations.
A different type of technology, atmospheric plasma cleaners, is used in other fields (e.g., commercial inks and coatings) to eliminate such organic contaminants. A plasma cleaner generates a plasma through air ionization and passes a material surface through the plasma, which effectively vaporizes or tears apart the oligomers or other organic contaminants.
It is desirable to provide an integrated system capable of removing both organic and inorganic contaminants from a surface of an object at a scale down to at least tens of nanometers.